Suze Smackdowns: High Standards, High Empathy

The NYT Magazine recently did a terrific story on Suze Orman, increasingly known for the tongue-lashing she’s willing to give viewers who aren’t taking full responsibility for their financial lives. Or as Oprah calls these very public rebukes, “Suze smackdowns.” Suze — she’s achieved first-name-only status — is a worldwide phenomenon, and I think it has as much to do with how she communicates as what she communicates.

I also think there’s a leadership lesson in her success. Suze doesn’t let empathy get in the way of enforcing high standards. Nor does she let high standards get in the way of empathy. If there’s any secret sauce to leadership, I think it’s this. I think it’s learning how to deliver both simultaneously. A default assumption for most of us is that these positions tradeoff on each other, that you can be supportive or hold people accountable, but not both. The exceptional leaders I know are defying this tradeoff everyday. They are demanding excellence from the people around them, while helping them achieve it with relentless support.